CFA looking to set things straight in Administrator’s Cup

They should not have been there in the first place. Instead, the Chandigarh Football Academy players were there, representing the Government Model High School, Sector 36, at the Under-17 Subroto Mukherjee Cup at Delhi. They were supposed to attend the camp for the Asian School Football Championship at various places across India, but were made to change their plans at the eleventh hour and march to Delhi.

"We didn't get intimation to send our players for the camp. So, we decided to participate in Subroto Cup," shared Harjinder Singh, coach at CFA.

The Asian School Football Championship was being seen as a crucial milestone in the paths of trainees of the Academy, as many of them are still without any international exposure. The high-level coaching and adrenaline-filled matches at foreign shores were eagerly awaited by the players, but due to some official problem the camp was called off. According to the information received, the expense bill tabled for the tour was beyond the budget approved by the Ministry of Sports and hence, no green singal was given by the Ministry. Now India will miss the date.

The exposure, according to Harjinder, would have marked a new beginning for his trainees. "The exposure would have benefitted the players a lot. I am aware of the level at which my players can play and I am certain they would have felt comfortable playing against foreign teams. Also, there is age fudging and several other discrepancies in national tournaments across India. There is no problem of playing against over-aged players in international tournaments and these players could have tested themselves against opponents of the same age group. Also, there is lots of competition at international level and the players could have learned a lot," added Harjinder.

The Chandigarh team have already proved their mettle in the Under-17 National School Games football championship at Srinagar, where they finished runners-up to Tripura after losing in the tie-breaker. The result was heartening for Harjinder, as he was missing seven key players but the players hardly show any signs of weakness.

... contd.

ALSO READ

‘Why can’t police admit its mistake... they should apologise to her 2 sons’

High Court slams UT Police for letting accident victim lie on road for 2 hours

Of Tales Untold

Many projects hanging fire due to opposition from Bansal, kin